Trade show networking is a vital skill for event planners, marketers, and sales teams looking to maximize their event impact and build valuable connections. Navigating the bustling environment of a trade show can be overwhelming, but with the right strategies, you can turn these events into powerful opportunities for growth and collaboration.
In this blog, we'll explore some networking event ideas and best practices to help you master the art of networking at trade shows and ensure you leave each event with a stronger, more valuable professional network.
Whether you're a seasoned pro or building your trade show network for the first time, these actionable trade show tips can help you make the most of your experiences.
Importance of trade show networking
Effective trade show networking goes well beyond the exchange of business cards and follow-up emails. In fact, 18% of event professionals cite trade shows as the event they most frequently plan, and for good reason.
Trade shows are a strategic opportunity to build lasting relationships, drive growth, and promote your brand. Knowing how to network at a trade show is important for so many reasons, including:
Forging strong connections
Networking at trade shows allows you to build relationships with key decision-makers, potential buyers, and individuals in your industry. These connections can lead to direct sales, future collaborations, referrals, valuable leads, and joint ventures.
Staying ahead of the competition
Trade shows are innovation hubs. Workshops, product demonstrations, and speaker presentations offer unique insights into the latest industry trends, emerging technologies, buying patterns, and best practices.
Feeding the sales funnel
Networking can directly impact your bottom line. Engagement with high quality leads can generate new business opportunities by converting to direct sales or partnerships. Trade shows are also an avenue for nurturing existing relationships and promoting upsell opportunities to existing clients or customers.
Enhancing brand image and awareness
Active participation in trade shows gives you a chance to prove your brand is an industry leader. Use this opportunity to share your knowledge and insights, showcase your products or services, and find ways to elevate your brand's visibility and credibility among other key players in your space.
Gain competitive intelligence
Watch closely. Observing your competitors at trade shows is a chance to see their strategies play out in real time. You can use this knowledge to consider their marketing strategies, product launches, and customer engagement tactics, and then determine ways to differentiate your brand from the rest of the pack.
How to effectively network at trade shows: 10 tips
Now that you’re sold on the power and importance of trade show networking, let’s establish some tips to help you see all those benefits come to fruition for your brand. If you’re looking for a trade show checklist to help you prepare for conference networking, this is it!
1. Set networking goals
Prior to the trade show, determine measurable goals and key performance indicators (KPIs) so you can determine which objectives were met during a post-event review. Example goals might include:
- Generating a set number of leads
- Attracting a minimum number of attendees to your booth
- Making a set number of one-on-one appointments
- Earning a dollar amount in direct onsite sales
- Achieving social media shares, follows, or other online impressions that can be attributed to content created at the trade show
- Creating new partnership contracts
The goals you choose to pursue should align with your broader trade show strategy, and you should ensure all staff in attendance understand their individual event ROI objectives and how they serve your larger organizational goals.
2. Formulate a game plan
Once your goals are in sight, it’s time to map out your days at the trade show and formulate a game plan to maximize your experience and reach those lofty objectives.
Research attendees, exhibitors, and speakers in advance. This will help you determine key individuals to connect with during the event, including potential buyers or clients as well as prospective and existing partners.
You’ll also need to consider how you’re going to balance your event schedule so you have time for exhibit floor mingling, working your booth, attending sessions, participating in event activities, and meeting one-on-one with important connections.
3. Schedule appointments in advance
After identifying key individuals, make sure you don’t miss out on connecting by scheduling one-on-one appointments in advance and working these meetings into your schedule around other activities and agenda items.
Of course, you can’t meet with everyone individually, so it’s important to reserve these appointments for truly critical connections and leverage other networking opportunities for the bulk of your interactions.
4. Make your trade show booth a can’t-miss pit stop
Your booth is both the most expensive and most profitable element of exhibiting at a trade show. Your booth can do so much for your organization, attracting attention to your products or services, raising brand awareness, and even influencing sentiment about your brand.
That’s why working with a trade show booth logistics checklist is so crucial to your exhibit floor success. There are many items to consider when planning your trade show booth setup, including:
- Design, furnishings, flooring, and décor
- Technology and displays
- Marketing and promotional materials
- Giveaways and branded “swag”
- Lively demonstrations and engagement with attendees
5. Capitalize on available technology
With so much technology available, have you considered all the ways you might be able to use different tools to enhance your trade show networking strategy?
Event technology for trade shows
Make use of trade show software and apps that can streamline your networking efforts by assisting with scheduling meetings, managing contacts, lead capture, and lead nurturing.
Many trade shows now use a dedicated event apps that allows attendees to keep track of their schedules and view the entire event agenda. Tuning into your event’s mobile app allows for:
- Live updates such as changes to the schedule
- Detailed information about workshops, sessions, and speaker credentials
- Calendar reminders for sessions and activities you’ve added to your schedule
- Communication with other attendees and exhibitors
Digital business cards
Paper is so passé, and sharing a digital business card has become common practice. You’ll never run into a situation where you’ve run out of cards, and you can instantly customize your digital business card if you need to include specific information relevant to a new connection.
Social media
Social media engagement plays an important role in trade shows. Pre-event, you can use a hashtag to promote your presence at the trade show and generate online buzz about what attendees can expect to see at your booth.
You can also share live updates during the event and post-event highlights with the aim of increasing brand visibility, developing and nurturing connections, and promoting any new products or services.
QR code scanning
QR codes are useful for instant access to information as well as lead capture. QR codes can link directly to forms where attendees can enter information about themselves, fill out a survey, and provide other information that can serve as valuable feedback for post-event analysis.
6. Collect and track leads
As you generate leads at a trade show, you’re going to need a way to keep track of and manage them. It’s wise to invest in a robust trade show lead capture system that can effectively sort all of this out for you.
This, of course, falls under the umbrella of technology, but it’s probably the most important bit of tech you can invest in as a trade show exhibitor. Your lead generation software will be what allows your to not only generate as many leads as possible but also convert as many leads as you can, and as quickly as you can, into sales.
By leveraging the right software, you can integrate your CRM and your event tech to connect your lead scoring data, event analytics, contact lists, and email marketing campaigns.
7. Attend sessions and workshops
Getting off the exhibit floor and attending sessions, workshops, demos, and other event programming will give you an opportunity to meet attendees beyond your booth and tune into what’s happening in your industry.
Make use of access to speakers and workshop leaders as a chance to reach out and connect with influencers in the industry. You may be able to develop a connection and find inroads to discuss a follow-up meeting in a more intimate setting.
8. Take part in scheduled networking opportunities
Organized speed networking events and cocktail hours are common at trade shows. These activities are clearly intended for building connections, which means it’s especially important to be ready for heavy socialization.
Taking part in activities specifically intended for networking offers many benefits, including using your time efficiently, engaging in focused conversations, and meeting like-minded peers who could become partners or sounding boards.
9. Attend social gatherings and activities
Events like happy hours and offsite activities offer unique opportunities to connect with other professionals in a less formal setting. These types of gatherings are terrific opportunities to build relationships with other industry professionals in spaces that allow for more natural conversation.
Social gatherings mean time is on your side. You have an opportunity to speak with someone for a longer period of time than would be typical on the trade show floor. Take the opportunity to have more in-depth conversations that reveal your expertise and allow you to understand your peers’ perspectives and pain points.
These less formal gatherings are also great opportunities to receive honest feedback about your products, services, and brand during candid conversations. This can prove deeply valuable for making future improvements, repairing relationships, and approaching new connections with care.
10. Balance new and existing relationships
While it might be tempting to hyper-focus on generating new business and meeting your lead generation benchmark, you’d be remiss if you neglect existing partnerships and connections. As valuable and new bookings are, renewals and solid relationships are just as important for revenue and brand image.
As you think about your networking strategy, make sure you have time for all of these important connections, and organize your schedule wisely to strike a balance between new and established contacts.
Networking tips for virtual trade shows
Virtual trade shows offer unique networking opportunities but also come with challenges that differ from traditional, in-person events. By adopting specific strategies and leveraging digital tools effectively, you can still maximize your networking outcomes.
1. Optimize your virtual profile
Your virtual profile is your first impression. Be sure to include a professional photo, concise and engaging bio, and links to your LinkedIn or company social media. Use keywords related to your expertise to make your profile discoverable.
2. Be an active participant in virtual sessions
Engage in live Q&A sessions, participate in polls, and comment in live chats. These are key opportunities to show your expertise and start conversations. Consider calling attention to shared interests that arise during conversation, make useful suggestions, and offer constructive input and feedback.
3. Leverage virtual networking tools
Some platforms offer virtual “matchmaking” using an algorithm to suggest attendees who may want to reach out to one another. Consider these suggestions as a potential inroad to connect, initiate conversation, or ask about scheduling a one-on-one meeting.
4. Personalize communications
When you reach out to other attendees, be sure to craft each message individually as much as possible. Mention specifics about their profile or contributions during a discussion that stuck out to you or made you want to reach out. Without the face-to-face interaction of an in-person event, you’ll need to find ways to make each connection feel authentic and organic.
Following up after trade shows
Networking efforts do not end when the show is over. After a trade show ends, it’s time to assess how it went, solidify your connections, and nurture leads.
Follow-up emails
Using lead generation data to segment your audience and send personalized emails to targeted lists of new contacts. If you can, reference specifics about your conversations, mention shared interests that arose during your discussions, and find ways to make the message stand out. Be sure to express your gratitude for the opportunity to meet and speak with them. If it makes sense, consider highlighting potential opportunities for collaboration.
Connecting on LinkedIn and social media
Connect with contacts on LinkedIn. When sending a note to connect, be sure to reference how you met and say that it was a pleasure to get to know them. Consider engaging with their content on LinkedIn to show your interest and remain on their radar.
Collect as many social media credentials as you can to help broaden your reach and keep people interacting with your brand online as much as possible.
Schedule a follow-up meeting
Refer back to your conversations, and prioritize meeting with individuals who might be your most valuable leads or who might need some one-on-one attention to convert. Determine if an in-person or virtual meeting is the most appropriate next step.
Evaluate event takeaways
Take time to reflect on what went well at the event and what could be improved on in the future to enhance your trade show ROI. Think of constructive ways to adjust your trade show strategy based on lessons learned, goals achieved or missed, and feedback from booth staff.
Frequently asked questions
Are trade shows good for networking?
Without a doubt, trade shows are excellent platforms for networking. Trade shows bring together professionals from various sectors of an industry, in turn creating an ideal opportunity to build relationships and expand your network.
How do you talk to people at trade shows?
Effective communication is a necessary strength for successful trade show networking. You want to express both confidence and approachability, and you should have an “elevator pitch” ready that conveys who you are, what your organization does, and what you have to offer.
To start up a conversation, approach someone with a smile, try to ask open-ended questions, be an active listener, and don’t be afraid to share your expertise when you have valuable knowledge to offer.
How do you attract attention at a trade show?
The best way to attract attention at a trade show is to make your exhibitor booth as interesting and eye-catching as possible so you can draw in attendees, engage them in conversation about your products or services, and turn them into leads. Invest in an eye-catching booth design that incorporates bold designs, interactive displays, and enticing swag or prizes.
